TRAVEL speed along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) has improved to 16 kilometers per hour despite the increasing number of vehicles plying the thoroughfare since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were eased, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said yesterday.
MMDA spokesperson Melissa Carunungan said it is even better than the travel speed recorded by the agency prior to the pandemic, which was 11 kph.
“Umaabot sa 16 kilometer per hour sa ngayon, however, mas maganda pa din ito sa pre-pandemic speed na 11 kilometers per hour (Travel speed has already reached 16 kilometers per hour, however, this is still better even compared to the pre-pandemic speed of 11 kilometers per hour),” Carunungan told the “Laging Handa” public briefing.
Carunungan attributed the increased travel speed along EDSA to several factors, including better traffic management by the agency.
“The Traffic Engineering Center (TEC) attributed this to better traffic management scheme, the EDSA Bus Carousel system, and the increasing discipline of drivers,” she said in Filipino.
The 23.8-kilometer EDSA is Metro Manila’s prime thoroughfare, passing through six of the metropolis’ 17 local government units from Caloocan, Quezon, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, and Pasay cities.
Carunungan also said that as of November 14, the MMDA-TEC has recorded 417, 000 public and private vehicles plying EDSA on a daily basis.
She said the volume is expected to increase especially with the holiday rush.
“We will have a count this Thursday but in light of the increasing number of vehicles due to the holiday rush may traffic mitigating measures din kami like ang clearing operations sa mga Mabuhay lanes (we also have traffic mitigating measures like clearing operations at Mabuhay lanes),” she said.
MMDA personnel, Carunungan added, have been conducting daily clearing operations along these Mabuhay lanes, targeting obstructions such as illegally parked vehicles since the start of the holiday season.
Penalty for attended, illegally parked vehicles is P1,000 while unattended, illegally parked vehicles will be fined P2,000.
Pre-pandemic, around from 400,000 to 405,000 vehicles ply EDSA daily.
Vehicle volume along EDSA has steadily increased from 302,309 in January this year, to 371,882 in February, 377,591 in March, 400,776 in April, 403,774 in May and 408,105 in June.
In July, the number dipped slightly to 400,829 and 387,003 by August.
The MMDA said almost 50 percent of these vehicles are privately owned and 38 percent are motorcycles. Another 4.5 percent are taxicabs.
